Importance of Baby Walker for a Kid: Things You Need To Know To NOT Get Your Baby One

Here is a quick synopsis of what I am about to tell you in detail, baby walkers are NOT good for your kid. Thus the importance of baby walker should rather be known as the importance of not getting a baby walker for your baby.

Researchers have shown with a proven survey that babies with walkers start walking at least after a month of babies with no walkers. Moreover, American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that over 8000 babies per year are injured by using walkers in the US, with injuries such as burn, falling the stairs and bumping against the walls and furniture and tipping over.

In this importance of baby walker article, I will talk about the various reasons why you should avoid a baby walker for your little one, even though it is a general idea we have all grown up with and most of us have used one as a baby ourselves. The baby walker can be detrimental to your baby regarding their physical and mental growth, as well as it can cause injuries which can later turn into a fatal affair.

It May Delays Your Baby’s First Steps

How so? Because walkers allow your toddler to move around with those wheels underneath, while they are not ready to walk yet. As they are not physically ready for it, this can cause unusual movement patterns and delayed muscle control.

Babies learn to walk by watching how their legs move. Walkers come with trays at the front, which stops the babies from observing their movements of their legs. Thus they don’t get the information they need for their motor development. Moreover, walkers decrease the desire to walk with the alternative of faster movement, and they strengthen the wrong muscles in the process. The importance of baby walker article will let you know that the lower legs can strengthen while your baby uses a walker, but the upper legs and hips become comparatively weak, which are most important parts for walking in the later stages of life.

Also, as walkers fulfill their need for movement with the help of wheels, many of these babies will not take part in crawling, creeping, hitching or scooting at all, a stage which is important for a baby’s development of strength and coordination skills.

It Can Be Dangerous For Your Baby

As I have mentioned earlier in this importance of baby walker article, walkers can be very dangerous for your baby as it gives your little one easy movement with extra speed and access to extra height while they are not even ready for it and can cause tremendously fatal injuries in the process. The most common ones are falling down the stairs or crashing and falling over by crashing into walls, furniture or other equipment of your house. Many parents believe that walkers make their babies truly mobile and can give the babies freedom to control their actions.

Many parents even leave their children unsupervised to move around the home in their walkers, which is why thousand of babies end up in doctor’s chambers and emergency rooms from falling down the stairs or bumping into walls and furniture. You may feel like when your baby is in the walker; they can be left unwatched for shorter periods of time, while in reality your baby should be given even more attention when they are in the walker. A baby in a walker can move one meter per second so an accident can happen before you get yourself moving from letting it happen.

There is also an enhanced risk of your baby being burnt as they get easy access to previously out of reach objects such as candles and cups of hot drinks. A baby walker also allows your toddler to reach household poisons such as perfume bottles and alcohol which are harmful to your baby and can become fatal to their development.

The doctors strongly discourage the use of walkers. So what can be an alternative? Well, there are some alternatives which I am about to present in the following paragraphs of the importance of baby walker article. Note that these alternatives are not the best possible choices for your baby to move around and you should only get one if you want to keep an eye on your little one as you do your chores. None of these alternatives will make your baby learn to walk faster than usual, but at least they are better and safer alternatives to using a walker.

An exersaucer can be a nice alternative for your baby instead of a walker as the exersaucer are walkers but without the wheels. This ensures that your baby stays immobile while allowing them to bounce, rock, spin and sit upright, without giving them the chance to move across the floor like the walkers.

This, in essence, is much safer and developmentally appropriate for your child, compared to walkers. The importance of baby walker article would like you to know that you can even keep the baby unsupervised in a safe area of your house that has been baby proofed as it keeps your baby immobile and ensure they don’t get access to any harmful objects while they play.

Inside a playpen, your little one can move around freely, pull up themselves to stand as if they are on the floor without the risk of injury. It keeps your baby in a congested area while you do your chores. This is a much safer alternative to setting your baby in a movable walker. The importance of baby walker article strongly suggests that you get a playpen that has been newly manufactured, as the manufacturing guidelines for playpens have changed during the 2000s.

A playpen can be a great alternative for your baby walker as the playpen gives them an opportunity to play on the floor. It also ensures they can crawl around in that specific area. The importance of crawling will be discussed in the later parts of the importance of baby walker article.

A high chair is also another great alternative to keep your baby immobile while you work. They can play while seated in a 90-90-90 position with their back against the back of the chair, feet firmly on the footrest area with their thighs parallel to the floor.

This will keep your little one away from harm’s way while you are too busy to put complete attention on your kid. The importance of baby walker article will let you know that a high chair can be a good alternative to keep your baby immobile for a shorter period, but don’t put your baby on it for longer periods, as that will hinder their growth both physically and mentally. Keeping your little one immobile for long periods of time is not good for their development of important skills such as motor and muscle improvement.

Your little one might like a sturdy push car or wagon which will help them to stand up if they want to while providing the necessary grip. You have to make sure that this push car has a bar which your little one can push. It also has to be sturdy enough for your kid’s weight so that they don’t tip over the push car. These will help the child to strengthen the right muscle and help in learning to walk.

But you still have to make sure that you keep an eye on your kid as it still comes with the hazard of falling down the stairs. So you have to make sure that you supervise your baby directly without a miss. The push cars can be in various versions such as lawnmowers, cars, fire engines, trucks or wagons and can be a great addition to your baby’s toy collection as it will help them build stronger muscle necessary for your baby’s proper physical development.

A Walker That Is Following the Safety Standards

Since the 2000s, walkers are made safer by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission which worked with manufacturers to develop better safety standards for baby walkers. Walkers under the standards should have a gripping mechanism to keep your baby immobile and to keep your baby from going over the edge of a stairwell. It can also have a design which prevents the walker from going through a doorway to make sure your baby doesn’t fall over the stairs and stays inside a safe room. However, some manufacturers continue to ignore these standards.

But is there the best alternative? Yes!

The best alternative for your baby to learn to walk faster and develop their muscle and motor skills comes at no cost at all and is far safer than any walker or exersaucer, or any toy will ever be. The importance of baby walker article will let you know.

It’s the floor. Let your baby wander around in the floor in a safe environment, and they will learn to walk and develop their motor and muscle skills way faster than anything else.

What can they do while on the floor? Well, they can certainly play with their favorite toys and push and pull with their toys, but the best thing they can do is crawling. You should let your baby crawl on the floor.

Why did you ask?

Many therapists and pediatricians firmly believe that crawling is a vital experience in your infant’s life and plays a major role in their development. It is not a good sign if your baby skips this milestone and goes straight to walking by bypassing the crawling phase. They also believe that the parents should encourage their little ones to crawl on all fours, even if it is for a brief period.

There are many reasons why your baby should crawl, which are –

Crawling Strengthens Muscles

Crawling engages the baby in using their whole baby. They have to work against the gravity to move forward, and this strengthens the baby’s muscles in the legs, hands, arms, shoulders, and trunk. This also allows for motor skill development, as they are holding the wrists in an extended position and bearing weight on their hands. Crawling also plays a role in forming your baby’s curves of the spine, which are important for spinal function in the future. The importance of baby walker article can adhere to that.

Crawling Develops Visual Skills

Crawling from one place to another ensures that the baby has a goal and they need to use distant vision to set their sights on the goal. The baby then looks back at the hands which ensure that their eyes are adjusted to the focus. These adjustments are good for training your little one’s eye muscles in the improvement of binocular vision. Efficient binocular vision will help in future skills of reading and writing.

Crawling Influences Socio-Economic Development

As your baby begins crawling, they have to make decisions about new goals to move from one position to another, giving them an early start in future decision-making processes. Setting goals and then reaching or failing them affects emotional development and this impacts into making a baby’s sense of autonomy and confidence.

In today’s busy world, we tend to neglect the floor time and go straight into Walker or other alternatives. Floor time will ensure that your baby’s skills are developed faster with the development of visual, sensory, fine, cognitive and gross skills. It can get even better if you as a parent get down on the floor and play with them.

Final Words The Importance of Baby Walker

The importance of baby walker article will part with you with a few last words of the importance of not getting a walker for your toddler. Your baby is precious and doesn’t put them inside a movable vehicle at such an early stage. Not only does it make them vulnerable in the face of an unwanted injury which might turn fatal, but it also makes them learn to walk later than usual while hindering the development of necessary motor and cognitive skills. Spend time with your baby on the floor instead and let them flourish in a natural way.

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